


G is for Gun

by kuriadalmatia



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alphabet Meme, Drabble, F/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-24
Updated: 2010-11-24
Packaged: 2017-12-04 06:16:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/707475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuriadalmatia/pseuds/kuriadalmatia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the aftermath of the Randall Garner case, Elle tries to cope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	G is for Gun

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback always welcome.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: The Mark Gordon Company, ABC Studios and CBS Paramount Network Television own Criminal Minds. Salut! I just took them out to play and I promise put them back when I'm done. I'm not making any profit just trying to get these images out of my head.

///***///

While each member of the Team visits Elle in the hospital, only Garcia and Reid make it there on an almost daily basis. The only time Gideon stops by is to ask, “You understand why, don’t you?” It takes Elle a few moments to realize what he’s referring to. She only nods, not trusting her voice, because the man is asking for forgiveness but can’t bring himself to actually say what he did.

It’s annoying. It’s typical Gideon.

Hotch is there twice. He doesn’t mention his orders or Anderson failing to stay; he brings a potted daffodil instead. He’s the one who tells her that Randall Garner is dead and that the Team will be waiting for her to return. He’s adamant about that point, that unspoken way of saying, “I will not replace you.” Later, Reid explains that the daffodil is basically Hotch’s way of asking for forgiveness and a fresh start.

JJ and Morgan stop by three times each and talk about anything but the fact that Elle’s been shot. She can’t be mad at JJ; they’ve never been particularly close. Elle is pissed at Morgan—where the hell was he while she sat in that godforsaken jail in Jamaica?—which is probably why he looks everywhere but at her. He feels guilty and, well, he should.

It’s irrational. It’s not like Morgan put the gun in Garner’s hands.

No. Gideon did that.

Garcia brings her silly stuffed things to adorn the dresser in Elle’s hospital room. She ties balloons to the IV pole and the bed railings much to the displeasure of the nursing staff. She turns the TV channel to telenovelas, explaining that she can’t speak Spanish except to order a beer but she’s trying to learn. Elle spends one afternoon translating because, well, there isn’t much else to do.

Reid’s visits are quiet. He’s charmingly petulant that Hotch beat him to the “forgiveness flower” game, although he sniffs that the more traditional flower is purple hyacinth.

“You don’t need to give me flowers, Reid,” Elle tells him.

“Yes, Elle, I do,” he replies but doesn’t elaborate.

Elle knows that Garner used Reid’s mother in order to get information on them. She knows that Reid will continue to beat himself up for it no matter how many times she tells him that there’s nothing to forgive. She gives up because there’s one thing she’s learned about Reid over the past year: when he sets his mind to something, it’s nearly impossible to change.

When she’s released from the hospital, Reid is there to take her home. When she steps over the threshold and smells the fresh paint, Elle crumples to the floor, sobbing hysterically. She spends the next four nights at Reid’s, refusing to leave his bed except to go to the bathroom and the one time when Reid insists she sit at the table to have her soup.

She knows that his generosity is motivated by his guilt and it hurts. Elle wants to go back to that time when they were friends, when they could show up at each other’s doorstep at whatever o’clock and welcomed each other inside without hesitation. It isn’t about sex; it’s a benefit but not a necessity.

She wonders if she’ll ever have that back.

///***///


End file.
